Conventional lamp devices that can adjust the direction of emitted light include the vehicle lamp device disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-186731. In accordance with the driving state of the vehicle, the vehicle lamp device of the above publication pivots a lamp about a first axis and a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. By pivoting the lamp about the first axis, the lamp device adjusts the direction of light emitted by the lamp substantially along the horizontal direction. By pivoting the lamp about the second axis, the lamp device adjusts the direction of the light substantially along the vertical direction.
The vehicle lamp device disclosed in the above publication has a bracket for supporting the lamp. The bracket is supported from the rear wall of the body of the lamp by means of two adjuster shafts extending along the front-rear direction of the lamp. The adjuster shafts are used for adjusting the position of the lamp along the front-rear direction so as to change the direction of light upward or downward and leftward or rightward, thereby adjusting the direction of the light to a reference direction. An actuator is fixed to the bottom of the lamp body. The actuator includes a first drive source performing a first actuation and a second drive source performing a second actuation. In the first actuation, the first drive source actuates a first output portion to pivot the lamp about the first axis. In the second actuation, the second drive source actuates a second output portion to pivot the lamp about a second axis. The distal end of the first output portion is joined to a lower portion of the lamp. The second output portion extends along the front-rear direction with its distal end pivotally joined to the rear wall of the lamp body.
In the vehicle lamp device of the above publication, the actuator incorporates both the first drive source and the second drive source, and the actuator pivots the bracket and the lamp in an integral manner about the second axis. Thus, the bracket and the actuator act as a load at the second actuation. Accordingly, the size of the second drive source is increased, which leads to a larger size for the vehicle lamp device and an increased consumption current.
In this vehicle lamp device, the lamp is supported from the rear wall of the lamp body only by three shafts, which are the two adjuster shafts and the shaft of the second output portion. Thus, the lamp is likely to be shaken upward and downward, and leftward and rightward.